Our View: The most important vote you'll have on Nov. 4

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Journal Star

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Posted Apr. 30, 2014 at 10:19 PM
Updated Apr 30, 2014 at 10:20 PM

Posted Apr. 30, 2014 at 10:19 PM
Updated Apr 30, 2014 at 10:20 PM

Those behind an effort to amend the state Constitution in the hopes of producing fairer and more competitive elections and better state government in Illinois will deliver 533,000 signatures to Springfield today to get the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, well more than the 300,000 needed by the May 4 deadline.

Again this part of central Illinois led the way — as was the case in 1980 regarding the Cutback Amendment that reduced the size of the Legislature — generating among the highest number of signatures in the state, said Brad McMillan, executive director of the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service at Bradley University and a local leader in the Yes for Independent Maps drive (with a lot of help from the local League of Women Voters and the Peoria and Morton Chambers of Commerce).

The extra signatures are necessary to fend off the inevitable challenge from those entrenched in power who perceive this campaign as a threat to the status quo that benefits them. They’ll do everything they can to defeat this measure, to keep it off the ballot entirely, if possible. We’re more confident than we have been in a long while that won’t happen, in part because the good-government types running this campaign have collected not only signatures but money, more than $2.5 million at last count. That makes them more formidable in November.

The whole “fair map” campaign means pretty much what it says: It would take the once-a-decade task of drawing the maps out of the dark of the back room and out of the partisan politicians’ hands, as both major parties have proven beyond a doubt that they cannot be trusted to come up with legislative district boundaries that lead to anything but exceedingly unfair advantage for themselves. That process has led to some of the most gerrymandered districts in the nation, virtually guaranteeing the outcome of an election that is, in fact, pretty much rigged. To some degree this would neutralize the advantages of incumbency, so quality candidates would no longer be discouraged from participating in races they can’t possibly win. Arguably, and more importantly, it would produce better government, as elected representatives no longer in so-called “safe” districts would have to work harder and be more responsive to their constituents, as opposed to doing the bidding of party leaders. The diminished influence of the latter would be a good thing, from this perspective.

This is not a Republican or Democratic proposal — try as some Democrats in complete control of Springfield might to convince voters it’s a GOP conspiracy — but a good-government proposal. Sadly, we’re not sure everybody wants that. Ultimately this isn’t — and shouldn’t be — about them; it’s about giving government “of the people, for the people, by the people” back to those people, where it belongs, rather than with the select few.

Page 2 of 2 - Again, expect to hear arguments to the contrary. “This will disenfranchise minority voters.” Nonsense. No matter the system, it must comply with federal law, in this case the Voting Rights Act. Illinoisans also will likely be told by some that they “don’t see how this can help” make bad government better. We don’t see how it can hurt. How much lower than 50th in comparisons of the 50 states in category after category of competent government can Illinois, Inc. fall? And yet since 2001, 97 percent of legislative races have been won by incumbents, many of whom helped create this sorry situation. And yet in the last general election, more than half of legislative races had but one name on the ballot, again giving voters no choice. That’s not right. It is most assuredly not democratic.

As reforms go, this is better than term limits, which may have their merits — and lack thereof — but which can’t avoid the suggestion that voters aren’t really respected and can’t be trusted. Fair maps don’t take the matter out of voters’ hands.

The single most important thing Illinois voters can do in November is give their overwhelming green light to this binding referendum, which may not be a guarantee of more effective and ethical government but at least gives Illinois a fighting chance at it while the status quo does not. It’s a reform that has both substance and significant implications for the long term. Nothing else on the ballot, not even the governor’s race, is more critical if we really want state government to improve.

One other thing: Forever House Speaker Michael Madigan has left little doubt about his disdain for this effort. That should be all the direction Illinoisans need. A recent Gallup Poll had one in four Illinois residents saying their state is the worst place in the nation to live — topping that category by a long shot — with Land of Lincolners on the whole having the least trust in their state government and the most resentment regarding the taxes they pay to it of anyone in America. Haven’t you had enough?

An opportunity for real change for the better doesn’t come along that often. Let’s not blow it in November.